ROCK • A • RAMA
84 ROOMS (Rackit):: You want goofball eclecticism? The keyboard/guitar duo of Steve Hilton and Tracy Santa manage, on this rousing little EP, to artfully spoof everything from Hot Rats era Zappa (“Camelboots”) to empty brainpan rockabilly (“Cast Iron Arm”) to fresh-faced British Invasion poppiness (the-fifty-hooks-to-the-bar “Ask Any Girl”), and they even manage a belated followup to the Doors’ “Love Street” with the oompahing Music-to-Crave-Girls-By “Candystore.”
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ROCK A RAMA
This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Billy Altman, Michael Davis, Richard Riegel, Richard C. Walls and Craig Zeller.
84 ROOMS (Rackit):: You want goofball eclecticism? The keyboard/guitar duo of Steve Hilton and Tracy Santa manage, on this rousing little EP, to artfully spoof everything from Hot Rats era Zappa (“Camelboots”) to empty brainpan rockabilly (“Cast Iron Arm”) to fresh-faced British Invasion poppiness (the-fifty-hooks-to-the-bar “Ask Any Girl”), and they even manage a belated followup to the Doors’ “Love Street” with the oompahing Music-to-Crave-Girls-By “Candystore.” Best of all is “Rings,” which sounds like some Bizarroland lounge band who couldn’t come up with any words to their neat surf original and just keep repeating the melody over and over instrumentally until they reach the three minute “legal” mark. (Available from Rackit Records, Box 113, 2440 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103)B.A. ROD STEWART—Body Wishes (Warner Bros.):: Rod the Mod hasn’t impressed me with an album since A Night On The Town seven years ago and Body Wishes doesn’t hold much hope in changing that situation. Most of it is the sort of pseudo-soulful, overworked strutting & spandexing that just pushes Stewart deeper into the mirrored ego-hole he’s dug for himself. Still, every now and then (like the wonderful “Young Turks” two years ago) he climbs out of the pit and gives you a glimpse of the greatness that once was, and this time it’s unencumbered head-overheels warmth of “Baby Jane” and “What Am I Gonna Do (I’m So In Love With You)” that convinces me not to write him off for goocf. But really—the rest is Rod the Sod. C.Z.
BIG BOYS—Lullabies Help The Brain Grow (Moment):: The discovery of these hamburger-namesake thrashers on an abandoned carhop’s tray somewhere'in central Texas proves that hardcore’s everywhere (& for keeps), no matter what rock “style” is currently captivating the aboveground adults. These guys are as hopelessly low-budget frustrated with the state of society (and “thus” come across as raucously optimistic) as any cadre of L.A. burrheads. Some backward glances, like the leftover Izod paranoia of “Gator Fucking,” but new-as-last-week touches like funk horns and melodic-infancy melodies, too. And left-in tact typos on the lyric sheet. More power to ’em! (Moment, P.O. Box 12424, Austin, TX 78711) R.R.
DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET-Stardust (Fantasy):: Fantasy continues to reissue its early Brubeck, this time some quartets from ’51-’52, a few years before gymnastic drummer Joe Morello completed the group’s formula for success, but with Paul Desmond’s airily droll sax already on hand to counterbalance Brubeck’s klutzy block chording. The concept reaches some sort of peak on the almost 15-minute “At A Perfume Counter,” wherein Desmond’s seemingly effortless spinning out of wit and wisdom is followed by a classic Brubeck attempt to, after a lowkeyed beginning, pummel his piano into submission—something he never quite manages to do. Recommended to anyone who can buy the premise of Brubeck’s off-the-wall tantrums complementing Desmond’s genuinely sublime moments, a premise which helped to make this duo jazz’s longest running guilty pleasure.R.C.W. POLECATS-Make A Circuit With Me (Mercury):: The Stray Cats may be the mass breakthrough band of the rockabilly boomlet, but the Polecats might be the ones doing more musically to ensure that the music won’t fade away like last year’s hairstyle. Their non-trad looks are reflected in the music; they sing, “I’m a rockabilly guy/Never gonna change my style,” one minute, then follow it up with a dub version of the same tune. These two songs are flanked by a couple of glitter-era covers (?!?), while the title track opens up a whole new field of techno-billy. Clever songwriting and appropriate production by the likes of Dave Edmunds and Tony Visconti add more pluses; sounds to me that there’s a lotta potential here. M.D.
WHAM! U.K.—Fantastic (Columbia):: Now lemme get this straight—these guys don’t like work, so they’ve busted their asses to put out a concept album celebrating their laziness? Well, yeah, perfectly logical, the Protestant Ethic does funny things to people. Style here is high-voiced Anglo funk (ref: Culture Club), good stuff on the dancefloor if you’ve got that much ambition. Inspirational verse: “If you’re happy with a nappy then you’re in for fun.” R.R.
BOB MOSES—When Elephants Dream Of Music (Gramavision):: Before I heard this album about all Bob Moses meant to me was a name on the back of a few half-forgotten Gary Burton albums. It turns out, though, that the guy’s a composer/arranger on par with anyone working in jazz today; evidently inspired by the likes of Gil Evans, Carla Bley and late-’60s Miles Davis, he convinced 24 other high caliber musicians to give their all for the music instead of their individual egos and it shows. Co-producer Pat Metheny, whose sidekicks Lyle Mays and Nana Vasconcelos are also on board, adds a Wichita Fa//s-like sensitivity to the sound, making the music come across with that much more clarity. I’m impressed. M.D.
LESTER BOWIEAll The Magic! (ECM):: The first record of this 2-record set touches many of the same bases as last year’s Great Pretender— a revived r’n’b song (“Let The Good Times Roll”) filtered thru Bowie’s ironic sensibility, full-bodied and non-tongue-in-cheek singing from Fontella Bass and David Peaston, a fair amount of free blowing—only this time instead of Kate Smith and Howdy Doody, the homages are to Louis Armstrong and Albert Ayler making the overall mood more...respectful? Well, almost, tho Bowie’s sarcastically squeezed notes prevail. The second record (called “The One And Only”) is a goof on the famous ECM art record, the one where the solo artist gifts us with reflective slices of his cosmic vision, only here the cuts have names like “Miles Davis Meets Donald Duck,” “Fraudulent Fanfare,” and “Thirsty?”, the last named sounding like 3V2 minutes of Bowie blowing into a glass of water thru a straw (ECM should take this conceptual shtick to the next logical step and release it as a 45). The humor, on both records, neatly undermines the music’s pretentions, but also much of its emotional impact. But not all of it. R.C.W.
